Christy Goldfeder is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor. Her Delicious Life Health Coaching programs help busy people lose weight and gain energy while eating delicious foods and without strict dieting.
I don’t know any woman who hasn’t had some sort of weird food rules at one time or another. When I was a teenager, my food rules were of this variety.
They revolved around calorie counts and fat grams. Diet Coke was my drink of choice. I weighed myself religiously, forever hoping to lose those 5 pounds, and beating myself up mentally when I failed to do so.
I had no food rules in college, and it showed.
I didn’t care what I ate or how it made me feel, and so I felt terrible a lot of the time. I lived on coffee made in my dorm room. I loved the curly fries in the student center. Free food was always a bonus, and my friends and I would often go to events just for the food. In fact, that’s how the college lured us to most of the events.
These days, my food rules are quite different. They’re a lot more aligned with the ones that Michael Pollan outlines in new book. Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual is an elaboration on the main themes that come out of one of his last books, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
- which were:
Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.
In Food Rules, Pollan goes into more detail on what to eat – i.e., real food, not things made in a factory or with names that are the same in any language. He talks about where to eat – at a table, mindfully, away from the computer and TV. And when to eat – when you’re hungry, not when you’re bored or sad or lonely.
And if you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, that’s what I recommend, too.
It seems like common sense, but so many of us are confused on what to eat – and this is no accident.
It’s a concise book that does not go into great detail and that you can flip through in about 30 minutes. But it can serve as a pocket reminder for how we should think about food most of the time but seem to forget a lot of the time.
I put together this little video a few weeks ago – it’s my first one. What do you think of it? I filmed it unscripted. I think it worked out pretty well, though I will probably I’ll try scripting future ones. Let me know what you think of it.
If you really like it, please share it on Twitter, Facebook, Digg or any other social media you use!
Here’s the actual recipe:
* 1 large can of peeled, whole tomatoes
* 2-3 tsp salt
* 1/8 cup chopped thyme leaves
* 3 – 4 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 medium onion, sliced into half moons
* 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
* 2 carrots, finely diced
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 3-4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Cut tomatoes in half, reserving juices. Grease a baking sheet with 1 Tbsp olive oil, and place tomato halves face down on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt, chopped thyme leaves, and drizzle with another Tbsp olive oil. Roast tomatoes at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until tomatoes are browned.
While tomatoes are roasting, add 1-2 Tbsp oil to a pot, and add in onion, garlic, carrots and salt and pepper. Saute vegetables on medium high heat until they soften.
When tomatoes are done, remove them from the baking sheet. Use some of the broth to deglaze the baking sheet, scraping up the caramelized tomato juices. Add deglazed broth into soup pot along with roasted tomatoes, reserved tomato juice and rest of the stock. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes more until all flavors are well mixed. Serve and enjoy.
Oh, and if you want more recipes from me? Sign up for my newsletter and also search my blog archives
What would you guess – what’s the best option for healthy food?
A- Eating fresh is the only way to eat
B – Frozen is as good as fresh
C – Canned, fresh or frozen are all equal
Any takers?
Here are some things to think about: Fresh food is great – when you can get it.
However, think about eating fresh fruits and vegetables when you live in a Northern climate. What do you get?
Usually if you go to the farmer’s market, all you can find is potatoes, apples and cabbage. Now, I happen to like all of these, but let’s face it – who wants to only eat potatoes, apples and cabbages all winter?
If you go to the grocery store, you can get any sort of fruit or vegetable any time of the year. But where is it coming from? Most of those options are from South America where it’s summer when North America is in winter. Produce from Argentina, Chile, Brazil has to travel such a long way before it gets to your table. How long ago was it picked? How much of the vital nutrients have been lost from the transit time from vine to plate?
Frozen food is actually a good option, too.
Foods that are frozen are usually preserved this way at their peak of ripeness. No loss of nutrients. And frozen foods are convenient – your frozen spinach will last months in the freezer while only lasting days fresh in the refrigerator.
But frozen foods are not very green. They use up more energy than fresh foods – they have to be stored at a certain temperature. The refrigerator is one of the biggest consumers of electricity in the house.
Canned food – nothing wrong here right?
Wrong.
Unfortunately, the cans that our foods are stored are lined with a chemical compound that contains Bisphenol-A. This chemical has been show to leach into canned goods. And according to the Centers for Disease Control, 93% of the U.S. population tests positive for the chemical.
The issue is that BPA is an endocrine disruptor that mimics the hormone estrogen. When your hormones are disrupted or go out of balance, many things can go wrong with your health.
BPA can cause a decline in male sperm count, trigger early puberty in girls and induce feminine characteristics in men. It can also play a part in insulin resistance, tumor growth and promoting the spread of cancer cells.
Are any cans safe? The only company that currently has safe canned goods is Eden Foods. And they also are the only ones with safe Organic Tomatoes .
According to this article in Total Health Breakthroughs, you need to be particularly careful when it comes to acidic foods such as tomatoes. And heating your leftovers in plastic containers is not a good idea – chemicals from the plastics can easily leach into your lunch.
So, fresh whenever you can, frozen for ease and convenience, and be selective when it comes to your canned goods.
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Curious about what it’s like to work with me? Contact me to learn more about my services.
Today is my birthday. It’s not a milestone birthday for me this year, but it feels like one anyway.
I think it’s the changing over to a new decade. Those always seemed like big milestones to me when I was a kid.
Growing up, THE FUTURE was a big, shiny distant thing, filled with robots and flying cars and a Jetsons-esque lifestyle – the future was the year 2000. When I got there, it wasn’t as big, shiny and looming as I thought it would be.
In the year 2000, I lived in a walk-up apartment in Brooklyn without a car or a robot maid. I worked on the World Wide Web, a relatively shiny, new thing that allowed people to communicate with each other over long distances, but it wasn’t even the one that we have now. It was slow and light on graphics and photos, and people still used their phones to dial into it. There was no Facebook or Twitter. Napster was alive and well, allowing users to steal music.
Before the year 2000, I used to journal about what my life might be like when I reached that magical year. Most of my writing was uncertainty and speculation – as if I was afraid to commit real plans to paper. Perhaps I intuitively knew how powerful writing down your dreams could be. “Be careful what you wish for – it could come true.”
Writing down your future can make it happen much faster than you ever anticipated. It can be scary to write down your dreams in minute detail, only to have them show up on your doorstep within weeks of writing them down. It makes you wonder, “Why didn’t I wish for this sooner?”
Digging through old journals this week, I found one from 2002, the year I met my husband. After 9/11, I did a lot of soul searching and took a self-development course that had me examining my current path and dreams. One of the exercises revealed that I wanted to work with food, explore other ways I could make money by writing, and travel around the world. Shortly after I did this exercise, my dreams started coming true.
I fulfilled my travel dream and left New York for three months. I the most wonderful experience meeting people while traveling on my own through New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia. I made new friends, saw new places and had exciting adventures – surfing, bungee jumping, rappelling, and spending lots of time outdoors.
When I came back from my travels, I transitioned from working as a web project manager to a position where I was creating and writing marketing materials. I learned how to write to sell the value of a company’s offerings. I learned about this other side of business that I didn’t know before. And I was fulfilled by the creativity of it – something that I never would get in my former life in journalism.
And then there was the food thing. A strange dream of mine, because I never considered working with food. The last time I had food experience was working at the food court in a mall. Definitely not the kind of experience I ever wanted to have again. And yet, I still had this dream.
That’s when I found health coaching. Or it found me. I got healthy with the help of a gifted healer and yogi, and that’s when I got interested in this health thing. Food as medicine was a novel concept for me. When I saw how well it worked, I wanted to share it with everyone I knew.
Now, here I am – 10 years later. I’ve decided to start journaling my dreams again. There’s something to it. The more specific you get, the faster you can achieve your dreams.
So why wouldn’t you write down your dreams in detail? Are you afraid they might come true? I dare you to try it and see how quickly you attract the things that make your heart sing.
It’s been a crazy start to 2010 here. I have wanted to post something all week, and I’ve had almost no internet access. This forced break has been nice but also somewhat stressful. I feel like I’m missing something when I don’t have access, which makes me realize that I do have a little problem – an internet problem.
I don’t really make resolutions, but I am planning on spending more time on things I know I need to do and less time online.
Don’t get me wrong – I love being online, blogging, and keeping in touch with people. But I waste too much time online doing things of little value. Do I really need to check my e-mail every five minutes? I know I’d get so much more done if I didn’t.
….
Meanwhile, I have lots of new things coming up this year – I’m excited to launch my Create Your Delicious Life 6-week program. If you haven’t checked it out yet, look here: http://www.liveadeliciouslife.com/my-programs/
I will be posting some recent thoughts I had over the past two weeks – including goal setting, the Biggest Loser, health and mindset, and more. Stay tuned…
I’ve baked so much in the past few days, I can’t get the scent of cinnamon out of my nose. I hope everyone enjoys all of these delicious goodies – I certainly don’t want to eat them all on my own.
3 cups blanched almond flour
1 TBSP ground cinnamon
1 ¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp sea salt
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 TBSP vanilla extract
¼ cup yacon syrup
1 large egg
1 tsp lemon zest
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking soda, and cloves. In a medium bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, agave nectar, vanilla extract, yacon syrup, egg and lemon zest. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Cover the dough and let chill in the freezer overnight.
Roll out the dough to ½ inch thickness between 2 sheets of parchment paper. If the dough is sticky, dust it with almond flour. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and cut out the cookies using a gingerbread man cookie cutter (to prevent sticking, dip it in cold water after cutting each cookie). Transfer the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 30 minutes, then serve warm.
I’m on a gluten free kick, and this year I’m doing some gluten-free holiday baking. I met Elana Amsterdam from Elana’s Pantry earlier this year when she was on her book tour for her lovely Gluten Free Almond Flour cookbook, and I’m starting to experiment with the recipes. I’m looking forward to my birthday next month when I can try out her recipe for chocolate cake! Yummy.
Chocolate Cherry Cookies (gluten free)
Try these cookies – they are delicious:
2 ¾ cups blanched almond flour
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp baking soda
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup grapeseed oil
¾ cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate
1 cup dried fruit-juice-sweetened cherries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder. In a medium bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Fold the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Fold in the chocolate and cherries. Spoon the dough 1 heaping tablespoon at a time onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the tops of the cookies look dry and start to crack – be careful not to overcook. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes, then serve warm.
Note – if you replace the agave nectar with a dry sweetener such as sucanat (like I did) you’ll either have to add ¾ cup water or reduce the amount of flour by ¾ cup. I added water, ¼ cup at a time, until the batter was soft and combined well.
Yesterday was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The Solstice marks the start of the winter season. It’s time to get cozy and rest.
Many animals are going into hibernation during this time of year. Us crazy humans, though, are running around, going to holiday parties, staying up late celebrating the season and wearing ourselves out with all of the activity. To get more connected to the rhythm of the season, try one or more of these tips:
Sleep more – go with your natural body rhythm. If you’re feeling sleepy in the early evening, consider turning in earlier than you would normally do. If you’re ready to go to sleep at 9 pm or earlier, go for it. Getting adequate sleep is essential for good health, building your immune system and allowing your body to repair itself. Sleeping more can even help you lose weight and stay slim.
Warm up – eat more warm foods. You may notice cravings for hot foods, hot beverages, and warming spices. All of those things are perfect for the season and essential for keeping you healthy during the winter months. A nice beverage to have any time of day is a mug of hot water with a squeeze of lemon juice in it – soothing and delicious.
Slow down – take more time for yourself. The energy of winter is very yin – inward focused, contemplative, intuitive. It’s the perfect time to spend more quite time with yourself dreaming, journaling, taking a quiet walk in the winter snow. You can take stock of where you are now and where you want to go in the new year – and get a jumpstart on creating the life you desire before the new year rolls around.
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